Mark 15:8

15:8 Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom. ¹ 

Mark 6:23-25

6:23 He swore to her, ²  “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ³  6:24 So ⁴  she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother ⁵  said, “The head of John the baptizer.” ⁶  6:25 Immediately she hurried back to the king and made her request: ⁷  “I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.”

Mark 10:35

The Request of James and John

10:35 Then ⁸  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

Mark 11:24

11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 6:22

6:22 When his daughter Herodias ⁹  came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”

Mark 10:38

10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” ¹⁰ 

Mark 15:43

15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council, ¹¹  who was himself looking forward to ¹²  the kingdom of God, ¹³  went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ¹⁴ 

[15:8]  ¹ tn Grk “Coming up the crowd began to ask [him to do] as he was doing for them.”

[6:23]  ² tc ‡ The witnesses here support several different readings: αὐτῇ πολλά (auth polla, “to her insistently”) is found in D Θ 565 700 it; πολλά is the reading of Ì^45vid 28; both words are lacking in L pc; and א A B C^2vid ˹³ 33 2427 Ï lat have just αὐτῇ. The best candidates for authenticity, on external grounds, are αὐτῇ πολλά and αὐτῇ. So the issue revolves around whether πολλά is part of the text. On the one hand, πολλά used adverbially is a distinctive Markanism (10 of the 16 NT instances are found in Mark; of the other Gospels, Matthew alone adds a single example [Matt 9:14]). It could be argued that such an unremarkable term would go unnoticed by the scribes, and consequently would not have been inserted in imitation of Mark’s style observed elsewhere. On the other hand, the largest cluster of instances of an adverbial πολλά are in Mark 5-6, with the most recent example coming just three verses earlier (Mark 5:23, 38, 43; 6:20). Scribes may well have imitated the usage so recently and so frequently seen. Further, the best Alexandrian witnesses, as well as good representatives of the Western and Byzantines texts, lack πολλά. On the whole, though a decision is difficult, it is probably best to read the text without πολλά. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[6:23]  ³ sn The expression up to half my kingdom is a proverbial comment meaning “great wealth.”

[6:24]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[6:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “She said”; the referent (the girl’s mother) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:24]  ⁵ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark employs the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (though twice he does use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

[6:25]  ⁴ tn Grk “she asked, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:35]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:22]  ⁶ tc Behind “his daughter Herodias” is a most difficult textual problem. The reading adopted in the translation, τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ ῾Ηρῳδιάδος (th" qugatro" aujtou Jerwdiado"), is supported by א B D L Δ 565 pc; it is also the most difficult reading internally since it describes Herodias as Herod’s daughter. Other readings are less awkward, but they do not have adequate external support. The reading τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς ῾Ηρῳδιάδος (th" qugatro" auth" th" &erwdiado", “the daughter of Herodias herself”) is supported by A C (W) Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï, but this is also grammatically awkward. The easiest reading, τῆς θυγατρὸς τῆς ῾Ηρῳδιάδος (“the daughter of Herodias”) is supported by ˹ pc, but this reading probably arose from an accidental omission of αὐτῆς in the previous reading. The reading τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ ῾Ηρῳδιάδος, despite its historical difficulties, is most likely original due to external attestation and the fact that it most likely gave rise to the other readings as scribes sought to correct it.

[10:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “baptism I am baptized with.” This same change has been made in v. 39.

[15:43]  ⁸ tn Grk “a councillor” (as a member of the Sanhedrin, see L&N 11.85). This indicates that some individuals among the leaders did respond to Jesus.

[15:43]  ⁹ tn Or “waiting for.”

[15:43]  ¹⁰ sn Though some dispute that Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, this remark that he was looking forward to the kingdom of God and his actions regarding Jesus’ burial suggest otherwise.

[15:43]  ¹¹ sn Asking for the body of Jesus was indeed a bold move on the part of Joseph of Arimathea, for it clearly and openly identified him with a man who had just been condemned and executed, namely, Jesus. His faith is exemplary, especially for someone who was a member of the council that handed Jesus over for crucifixion (cf. Luke 23:51). He did this because he sought to give Jesus an honorable burial.